Pandemic Ag Reaction Pt 2
Wednesday Jan 13th, 2021 I’m Bob Larson. For all the negative 2020 brought, it could have been much worse in ag if not for the hard work of the Farm Bill Alliance. At last week’s virtual Potato Expo, members talked about the importance of helping growers survive.
United Fresh Produce CEO, Tom Stenzel says they brought their message and the data to the table …
STENZEL … “It’s been in the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), direct payments to growers. It’s been in the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, so there’ve been a lot of different ways that funding has come in. It’s not everything we need, but it was quite a testament to how the industry can work together under a crisis.”
Losing ground against hunger in NC: 20% less food donated, 68% more need
North Carolina food assistance programs struggle under economic stress of coronavirus pandemic.
Sharing House Pantry Assistant Sam Munson, at left, and Communications Specialist Laura Denon prepped food boxes for distribution at the facility on December 15, 2020. Colby Rabon / Carolina Public Press
By Dan DeWitt , Carolina Public Press
January 12, 2021
This story was originally published by Carolina Public Press.
The line of idling cars snaked down the driveway of the Sharing House food pantry and around the block in the Western North Carolina city of Brevard.
When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, Sharing House typically passed out about 80 food boxes during its weekly drive-thru distributions. On this day in December, masked volunteers passed out more than 160 boxes in less than an hour, forcing workers to break open cartons of onions, apples, bananas and eggs to assemble containers of food on the fly.
When the pandemic landed full force in Colorado in March, the Food Bank of the Rockies faced the double blow of losing almost all its volunteers and trying to meet
More than a million Michiganders who receive federal food assistance will see extra benefits loaded onto their Bridge cards later this monthand food banks and pantries across the state stand to get a much needed boost.The latest federal stimulus package earmarks $13 billion for food assistance, including a 15% increase in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits through June and additional money for food banks, as Americans continue to struggle to put food on the table."When
USDA Plans To Distribute More Than A Billion Dollars Worth Of Food In 2021
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will purchase more than a billion dollars worth of food in 2021 for distribution through the Farmers to Families Food Box Program.
The USDA has distributed more than 132 million food boxes in support of farmers and families affected by the pandemic. The Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma is thrilled by the new announcement. Any boost in the amount of food that we can get out can be very exciting for us, said Communications Manager Greg Raskin.
Communication Manager at the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, Greg Raskin, says an additional $1.5 billion worth of food for nationwide distribution by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, helps their fight against hunger in 2021.